Miquela's Adventures

It's over

2006-06-22T06:25:00.000-03:00

For those of you who may still be checking this blogsite...I apologize, it will no longer be updated. My wonderful year in French Guiana has ended. It's so sad to say. I never thought it would. It was an experience I will never forget. One full of tests, happy times, progress, and learning...everything a year of service is supposed to be. I left St.Laurent with a heavy heart, but a very happy one too! I will strive to apply all the things I learned there into my daily life. I have discovered a love for children I didn't know I had, an ability to live with very different people, and a new love for my Faith and peanut butter ice cream.
My eternal gratitude goes to Jackie and Bob Walker for hosting me, putting up with me, and helping me through that journey.
Stay posted for a new blogsite recording my experiences through an International Development program at Trent University, and perspectives on development and spirituality.

Wednesday night

2006-05-03T23:09:00.000-03:00

Wednesday night spent with a group of 8 wonderful junior youth studying the book "Walking the Straight Path".
Tonight's activity...making a collage of the things that make you who you are.

The Night

2006-04-25T18:08:00.000-03:00

As promised...pictures of my last night with the Doekoe girls. They presented their play for Denissa, Dulcie, the Walkers, and me. Nervous as they were they did a fantastic job! They each received certificates for a virtue they demonstrated during the study of the book.
From left to right: Marie, Adea, Estella, and Florence.

They had brought some DVDs of Saramaka dancing and made a brave attempt at teaching me some moves. When they realized I was hopeless, they decided perhaps cards were a safer bet, followed by a few rounds of dominos while I got my hair braided.

This groups stands out here because they are willing...willing to learn, willing to change. They are joyful, they're thankful, and this just makes them radiate! I hope that those of you reading this and looking at the picture of the girls can see those qualities. Girls like these give me hope for the future.

"Among the young ones in the community are those known as junior youth, who fall between the ages of say, 12 and 15. They represent a special group with special needs as they are somewhat in between childhood and youth when many changes are occurring within them. Creative attention must be devoted to involving them in programmes of activity that will engage their interests, mold their capacities for teaching and service, and involve them in social interaction with older youth." (from the Universal House of Justice )

Final Project

2006-04-24T11:23:00.001-03:00

A sad part of having to leave is the junior youth groups coming to an end. I will especially miss my Monday night group with the girls. They have made such incredible progress in their reading and writing and in their contributions to discussions. As their final project, we worked to create a paper "quilt" with each piece of the quilt containing a part of the story in the book we were studying (Breezes of Confirmation) that demonstrated virtues.
Each girl wrote a part of the story and indentified the virtue demonstrated.

Then all the pieces were tied together with string and the girls were very proud of their work. The quilt now hangs proudly in the living room of their house.

Tonight they will present a play they created based on a part of the story and will receive certificates for virtues they themselves demonstrated during the study of the book. Following this will be "girl time" during which I am apparently getting my hair braided. (Pictures to follow)

A strange afternoon

2006-04-19T16:32:00.000-03:00

As a reward for completing the book "Breezes of Confirmation" (the first in a series of books for junior youth that focus on service and developing capabilities), I promised of my tuesday night group that we would have an outing. They were very happy for this since they are on school holidays and dying of boredom at home. However when I went to pick them up, one of the girls had been given her baby cousin to look after and the other girl in the group didn't want to come if her friend wasn't coming. Since this was the only afternoon I could take off to do the outing, I was forced to drive off with only the four boys in the group.

I was feeling quite skeptical as to how this afternoon would go... Three hours with 4 pre-teen boys. Well, surprisingly enough, it was quite fun. We began our afternoon of "no girls allowed" at the dock. The dove into the water and judging by how happy they were, I have a strong feeling this was one of the first times they had left their neighborhood all vacation. Of course, it wouldn't have been a complete outing without an injury and Rodrigue provided the opportunity for me to practice my first aid skills in a country with one of the highest AIDS rates in the world when he cut himself climbing back onto the dock - I couldn't do anything...I have nevet felt so helpless in my life. This is something we have been warned about over and over again, but it took a few seconds for me to stop myself from going to clean up the cut. I had to tell him to wash it off himself and put a band-aid on himself...I just sat there and watched, knowing what a risk I would take simply from the desire to help him, a young child; feeling angry at the world and the people in it who could possibly be responsible for inflicting an early death on this wonderful intelligent boy.

It's moments like those that make the reality of AIDS come slamming into your face like a truck on a highway...and it hurts almost as much too. If you think I'm being paranoid or over-dramatic...I'm not...the level of sexuality and infidelity here is frightening (forgive the lack of statistics...officially the rate is low because so few of the cases are reported or known...hence the continuation of the spread...however, French Guiana has the highest percentage of people living with HIV in all the French departments).

We walked back to the house so that I could properly clean up Rodrigue's foot and put a good band-aid on. Then they went back outside to play some more on the beach, with Rodrigue relunctantly sitting down next to me since he couldn't go abck in the water. He passed the time by telling me about soccer and his latest accomplishments at school. I was very happy to listen and I think he enjoyed having someone to tell them to.

When the three other boys were tired out from back flips and races, we sat on the grass and played cards, broke open some coconuts, then ventured over to old abandoned ship and explored it. After a race back to the house, which I of course pathetically lost, despite having the longest legs, they relunctantly got back in the car, and each took turns changing gears...all the way home!

In posting the little afternoon episode, I'm not making negative implications about the people here. On the contrary, they are wonderful, welcoming, and very lively. It was more to draw attention to something real and dangerous, but preventable. Something that is affecting a lot of innocent children, many of whom I have been teaching all year. The stigma that surrounds people who are HIV positive is disgusting, because none of us have a right to judge another, and none of us can ever know what those people have gone through in their lives, and what they are going through but especially...discriminating against people and ignoring a problem does nothing to solve it, plain and simply. So here's an expression of hope that people can stop focusing on the consequences; crying over the statistics; feeling sorry for others...and maybe start addressing...and I mean really ADDRESSING...some of the causes.

Mental lapse

2006-04-16T23:32:00.000-03:00

Saturday we decided to go visit a friend's village on an island in the Maroni. The trip requires driving to another town, which is mainly used a military base, and then taking a pirogue to the island. Perhaps it was the fact that I hadn't had my cup of coffee yet that morning, but my brain just was not functioning properly and as I stepped out of the car and slammed the locked door shut, I left the keys in the ignition.

So there we were, half an hour from St.Laurent, with all our money, food, and water locked in a pretty red Twingo.

We managed to get one of the windows down a bit, but were quite lost as to what to do next. Luckily, there was a group of soldiers nearby who came to our rescue. They acted swiftly and sent one of the guys off to the "utilities building" to bring back a long sturdy cable. They formed a hook, passed it through the window, and gently pulled the keys out.

(I would just like to go on record of saying that we totally could have done it one our own had we had access to the "utilities building" or had a spare piece of cable lying around)

Our heroes of the day.

Unfortunately, our friend with the pirogue never showed up, and we spent some of the time waiting in the only restaurant in the town (if you can even call it that), watching a very cool sloth trying to get from one satellite dish to another, and being total tourists.

and in the end, I got my cup of coffee.

(Note: This is of course in no way a representation of habitual activities on one's year of service, but simply a funny story I wanted to share)

St.Laurent du Maroni

2006-04-12T12:38:00.000-03:00

The streets...

The dock...my favourite place...great for thinking, working, drawing, swimming...and sneaking onto unattended boats.

Place de la Liberté...where you can find happy families playing during the day and...um, happy couples at night

The Town Hall...where lots of important stuff supposedly goes on...

Our mailbox! It's always nice to get packages ;-) hint hint...actually no I'm leaving soon, don't send anything!

The countdown begins...

2006-04-11T16:37:00.000-03:00

One month left! Trust me, this is not said with excitement (more like a long droned out whine followed by a sniff and a tear). I'm not going to pretend, if you had asked me about 4 months ago I would have been jumping to leave. This year has been everything but easy. However, if there is one thing I learned this year, it has been to live in the moment, to appreciate where you are, when you're there, and getting everything out of it...Regrets are useless. So here I am, one month from leaving the place that has been my home for the past 7 months. Things are busier than ever as I desperately try to finish all the study circles and junior youth books before leaving. As my wise mother said last night, it's okay to spend the beginning without being too busy, but if the end isn't busy, you leave feeling like it was a waste of time, so I fully intend on working until the last second I'm here...so enough of what's going on in my head...what's going on in French Guiana???
This weekend was our first one spent in Wagi Pasi in over a month and half and I have to admit...I missed the hammock. What I didn't miss however are the gigantic spiders!!! They will definitly be an integral part of my memories of St.Laurent, though not a good one. Just before climbing into my hammock on saturday night we noticed a large black thing moving across the net of the hammock...we spent the next half an hour running after it trying to kill it.

Luckily Oginio came to our rescue, but we still failed and it disappeared into the night...creepy legs and all...to go find some other unfortunate victim.

The next morning we washed in the creek as usual. The thing that really struck us was how much kids help out their parents without even being asked. The fact that on the weekends it's perfectly normal that you go with your mother to the creek to wash clothes and dishes goes so contrary to North American society where it feels increasingly like kids constantly have to be reminded to help and even get rewarded for it. There are many things we have learned from being here and I think when we go home we'll be a lot happier about helping out with house work...espcially since none of us will have to walk half an hour just to do the dishes.
We then lazed around the "carbet" where we had slept and had some breakfast before heading off for classes.

And I got spend time with my baby Jackie, who I absolutely love and adore and want to take home with me.
She has such a strong character and she walks around the camp as if she owns it. She controls all the little boys in the camp and even her older brothers are a little scared of her. Oh yes, she's two and half.

This week will be extremely strange because of school holidays and classes being moved around, but I hope to be able to post more pics in the days to come. For now though people, stay away from spiders.

Highlight of the month

2006-04-02T21:04:00.000-03:00

So, today I had my highlight of the month, and possibly even of the year...there is of course no surprise that it is Sunday and good things always seem to happen on Sunday!
My morning was part one. In my fantastic french class one of the women read her first word on her own. We had been working with syllables (Ba, Bo, Mi, Di...may seem incredibly simple to all of you reading this but imagine you have never seen the letter B before in your life...who was it that decided that a stick with two half circles on it would make the sound we'd need to to say bumblebee?) I realized we had learned all the syllables to be able to read the french word for Saturday so I wrote it on the board and asked one of the women to read it. Very slowly, with no help, she pieced together the syllables and yelled with joy when she realized she had just read a word.
Part two came in the afternoon class. It was our first day trying a split class with literate and illiterate people. It was a plan meant to help everyone advance at their own pace but I was a little worried about the "social repurcussions" of it. The first part went very well, working with the literate men. I thought it was the class I would enjoy the most but I had much more fun in the second class; they were much more lively since everything is done orally and it sometimes feels like they're just making a much greater effort.
At the end of the second class, one of the men, Robby, called me over and said he had been trying to write with a pen now instead of a pencil but that it was really hard. So I looked at how he was holding his pen (a bit smooshed and akwardly), and placed it in a bit of a better place, and he wrote perfectly! He let out a long "Womii" (literaly translates as "man", used here as an exclamation) and called everyone over to show his pretty handwriting, saying "Look look, it was that easy, just holding the pen...". Incredulity is the word that comes to mind.
My usual Sunday night study circle was unfortunately cancelled due to absence of our hostess but I had already picked up two of the girls so we got hamburgers (French Guiana style) and went down to the river and got a chance to know each other. It was so nice to hear these young girls talk about their dreams and objectives. All I could do was tlel them how impressed I was with their purposefulness and pray that their hopes become reality.

Lesson Learned:
Life is full of choices. The right ones are usually the hardest to make but also the ones that feel better in the long run...yes, yes, I know, it's been said, but hey, we all have to learn our lessons!

The glory of Man

2006-03-29T07:24:00.000-03:00

"The woman who is asked to arm herself and kill her fellow creatures will say "I cannot." Is this to be considered a fault and lack of qualification? Yet be it known that if woman had been taught and trained in the military science of slaughter, she would have been the equivalent of man even in this accomplishement. But God forbid! May woman never attain this proficiency; may she never wield weapons of war, for the destruction of humanity is not a gloriour achievement. Let not a man glory in this, that he can kill his fellow creatures; nay rather, let him glory in this, that he can love them."
- 'Abdu'l-Baha

We place importance on certain things because that's the way society has evolved, but does that necessarily mean it's right? If our standards/perceptions of beauty and ethics can change so dramatically in say 200 years, why can't our standard/perception of the true role and the station of woman? When will we see peacefulness as being a stronger statement that agressiveness?
More to come on this subject but for now...just think about it.

March goes by...

2006-03-24T14:54:00.000-03:00

The infrequency of my blogs is now caused by the fact that my computer's graphics card has decided to crash and I am therefore forced to use the family one, which is obviously available much less often and doesn't contain any of my photos.
It is now the end of March and I am in a reluctant countdown to my departure. It feels like I have found my place here and now I must leave.
In recent news, I now have a new junior youth group, studying the book "Walking the Straight Path". It started as a group of 5 and is now a group of 9. It's a lot more enjoyable than my other groups because the kids are older and therefore can work more independently and we have much more interesting discussions. We'll be working fast to finish the book before I leave which they were all willing to do. The feeling of completing a book is very satisfying.
My Sunday nights are now the highlight of my week as they are filled by a study circle of the book "Reflections on the life of the spirit" - a fantastic study of spirituality, prayer, and life after death. It is a group of 5 - the mother of the house where we hold it, and 4 youth. Last night, two of the women surpised me by volonteering to end our circle with the prayers they had memorized over the week. I think it was a real testimony to the power of prayer and the effect it has in our lives. Some call it just a "false comfort" or an "illusion" but I pride myself on being a logical and scientific person and I can testify to the difference that starting and ending your day with a prayer can make in attitude and in actions during the day.
In far more exciting (and disgusting) news, I was bitten by a spider (I think) a few weeks ago and after getting rid of the infection it has turned into a frightening sight which I felt I should share with all of you!

My personal feeling is that a year in South America would not be complete without some kind of disease and a strange bite of some sort...and as I have now had both I am content.

My fabulous Sunday

2006-03-13T07:09:00.000-03:00

You know when you have those days that are just amazing: you feel so happy, a kind of natural high; you feel joy to be alive, purpose in life...well, Sunday was one those days.
It's a surprisingly empty day, considering I leave the house at 9:30 and don't get home till 6. I only have two French classes but they are my favourite classes.
The first one is in the middle of nowhere just off the national highway. (apologies here for the lack of pictures). It's a class of women, children, teens, men (literate and illiterate) and babies. The youngest student in the class is 11 and the oldest is 60. At first I thought it would be impossible to teach because of the range of ability but not so...the most beautiful characteristic of this class is that they all help each other and this creates an atmosphere of joy, which is of course conducive to learning (possibly why they are my fastest moving class too). The literate men help translate, the teens help the children, the women help each other and compliment each other on their latest writing homework.
The day had already started out beautifully when Dee and I went to pick up some of the younger students and were greeted with big bouquets of flowers.This sunday's lesson was on the calendar. I wrote the names of the months on the board and one by one, we went over them and then they had to write them in their books. Bear in mind, this is a class of 14 people, only two of whom already knew how to write when we began. Everyone was working so silently and were so concentrated, calling me over "Miquela! Miquela! It's good? It's good?". Every single one of the students did the work perfectly, and they were so happy afterwards. For the women, these were the first twelve words they had ever written.
After the class, we had a prayer meeting. It was our first one, but according to them, not our last one. There was such an atmosphere of respect and calm, even when one of the children was saying a prayer. When we ended with a song, the women requested to be taught how to say a prayer in Saramaka next time, which one of the men accepted to teach, and the rest of the class wanted to learn a prayer in French by heart.
There is a Baha'i prayer that begins "Oh God! Refresh and gladden my spirit...". Well, now I know what that is supposed to feel like.
I went home for an hour's break and then drove out with the girls to the next class. We all get dropped at different camps on a long road while Dee continues on to another town called Mana, and then on her way back she picks us all up. I was dropped in the village of Dubois with Vic, who had accepted to teach the children's class for the day in the place of a youth who couldn't come. While she taught the class, I sat in the "carbet" (carving hut, where the men make their sculptures). I arrive at 2:30 but can't begin the class until 4, so in the meantime I work with different groups of people on reading and writing. Some of the men are completely literate in Dutch and some of the students can't read or write in any language, so different groups work on different things. However that day I had the most fun with a group of three women, who have been coming very irregularly. Who would think one could have so much fun with the alphabet? We couldn't stop laughing and by the end it felt like there was a level of trust or a certain connection between us. It's difficult when you can't communicate with someone to really understand what they're doing in your village, to see if intentions are really sincere...but perhaps this one on one time helped them see that I really was there to help..not to make fun or glorify myself. In any case, their participation in the class was fantastic that day. Just a few minutes before starting the class, Dee drove up saying that the road was blocked. SO I had two assistants in the class for the day which was great because I was using a worksheet to learn vowels, and it's very difficult to keep track of how 18 people are working. When they were done, the women called me over to check their work and just for fun, I put some star stickers on their papers and told them they were stars. They got all giggly and started comparing each other's stars. This made one of the male students, Moni, very unhappy and he asked for a sticker too. I laughed and said it was only for the women and went off to help someone else. I only had my back turned for a few seconds when he got up to ask Dee for a sticker...very sneaky. So I agreed to give him one but then five other men piped up and said that wasn't fair and that they wanted one too! I said I didn't have enough for everyone and apologized to Moni that it wouldn't be fair if he got one and the other men didn't. This led to a playful argument in which Moni blamed the other men for the fact that he wasn't going to get a sticker and sitting down in a huff. By this time everyone was laughing and I had to promise to bring enough stickers for everyone next time.
This is, as I mentioned in the last blog, the time of the Fast and teaching can be very challenging when you can't drink, but that day, I barely noticed it. However when I got in the car and all the excitement had died down, I realized how exhausted I was and fell fast asleep...but I had a big smile on my face.
What a fantastic day!

Appetizer

2006-03-10T15:18:00.000-03:00

As you await a longer more intellectually stimulating blog, here is an appetizer of pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

All ready for Feast!

First morning of the Fast (period of 19 days when Baha'is abstain from food and drink from sunrise to sunset - means eating very early in the morning!)

Den and Dee after Mardi Gras - second to last day of a month long Carnaval when everyone covers themselves in oil and attacks anyone who is clean; you also get attacked with flour (in case you hadn't noticed)

The most beautiful children's class! There are now Saramaka and Ameridian children in the class, a combination that it not seen elsewhere. It is so moving to see that this class has given them the opportunity to be together in a friendly and spiritual environment and hopefully will create a small step towards eliminating the prejudices that exist between these people.

Wonderful, adorable Stephane, who, although would not approach me during our first class, now runs and throws himself into my arms as soon as I step out of the car.

Stephane's beautiful sister, Natasha, who at the age of four has memorized more quotations and prayers than most 8 year olds in the class

"Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom." - Baha'u'llah

"Every child is potentially the light of the world - and at the same time its darkness; wherefore must the question of education be accounted as of primary importance. - Abdu'l-Baha

Good News

2006-02-23T14:03:00.000-03:00

One of the things that brings me great joy is when there are positive stories on the news, and this is one that gave me goosebumps and made me smile. Sadly, I have been unable to find an online article or pictures to post on the blog, so my memory will have to do.
Just as CNN's Your World Today was finishing, and I was getting ready to switch off the TV, having just seen more images of the destroyed mosque in Samarra, the collapsed roof in Russia, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and the mudslides in the Philippines, I was told by Jim Clancy not to go away because after the break, there would be a story of dreams coming true. I decided to listen to him (it is Jim Clancy after all...) and I'm glad I did.
Your World Today ended with the story of a senior boy at a high school in the States, diagnosed as "fully-functional autistic", and on the senior basketball team. His role is mainly to help out with practices, throwing balls for lay-ups, putting equipment out and away, and everyone loves him, but he is what we call "a bench-warmer"! However, for some reason, the coach decided that that night, he could suit up and play. The whole school found out about this and all showed up that night with the boy's face on signs. When he was finally subbed into the game, the entire gym was on its feet! The first time he got the ball, he shot way too wide, and the coach cringed, doubting his decision, but praying that the boy would get at least one basket.
The second time he got the ball, he shot a beautiful three-pointer and tied the game! The entire gym was chanting his name and jumping up and down. The boy went on to set a new record for the school, scoring six 3-pointers! When the buzzer finally went off, the entire school flooded onto the court and lifted the boy into the air. They were heart-warming, goosebump giving images. When the team mates were interviewed about this, they were all extremely happy for the boy, and not one seemed jealous of the attention he was getting.
No...this has absolutely nothing to do with French Guiana, and no the boy is not some distant relative of mine, but it's stories like this that I feel pull you back to reality, that man is intrinsically good, that the world does produce some good stuff, and that if we do work together, we will accomplish so much.

Here are the words of a child who has endured sufferings greater than most of us could ever imagine - sold into slavery, treated like an animal, and forced to work - yet read how he sees life:
“If you want to live, live with a smile, live with love, don’t cry.
Don’t shed your tears. There are storms, there are disasters; in life, there are ups and downs. But don’t shed your tears. Smile – pain is part of life, but finally you get joy. If you want to live, live with new hopes, live with new aspirations. Live with love, live with a smile.”
-Nagashir, freed child laborer

Service

2006-02-20T12:23:00.000-03:00

We are nearing the end of February and I am in my sixth month here. As an overall evaluation, I am really enjoying it. There are of course ups and downs - moments of frustration and homesickness, feelings of uselessness and inadequacy - but in the end, I only get one official "year of service", and it does me no good to dwell on those. When I leave French Guiana I want to remember the ups.
If anybody reading this ever plans to teach another language conversationally, I strongly recommend doing a unit on telephone conversations. It could be the funniest thing you ever do, particularly if you make fake telephones and the students get to use them. I spent yesterday doing just that, and i don't think I have laughed so hard in all my time here! The participants got totally into it! They couldn't begin their conversations unless someone said "dring dring", and got very dramatic and inventive with their reasons for why a certain individual couldn't come to phone.
Here are some pictures of a few of my wonderful classes and co-workers, taken over the past few weeks...

One of my favorite children's classes, that recently went from 10 to 21 and now has Saramaka and Ameridian children in it (a VERY rare combination)

Denissa with her junior youth group in the village of PK10

Beautiful new baby Jean-Luc

French class in the village of Boussiman

Friday night youth gathering while my mom was visiting, and when she gave a wonderful talk about the sufferings of Baha'u'llah

The new drumming quartet of French Guiana (cultural note: we are holding traditional Saramaka drums)

My wonderful junior youth class with their "service butterflies"...The wings are made from cut-outs of their hands, representing giving your hands to service so we can fly.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
-Mahatma Gandhi

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
-Anne Frank

Justification

2006-02-09T21:24:00.000-03:00

I have two reasons for the lack of of updates on this blog: The first is that my mother was here in St.Laurent visiting for a week, which was absolutely marvellous but left little time for writing blogs and the second is that the day my mother left I came down with dengue fever, a tropical version of the flu, that has had me in bed for the past week. I am slowly starting to go back to work, taking on a class here and there, but it is very tiring.

(our matching malachite heart-shaped pendants from Congo, courtesy of my visiting mommy)

Road Trip!

2006-01-24T21:03:00.000-03:00

As a surprise for Dulcie's birthday, we decided to kidnap her early in the morning and make the 2 and half hour drive from Saint Laurent to Kourou for a day of exploring and adventures.
Kourou is well-known as being the home of the Centre Spatial Guyanais (Guiana Space Centre) where the Ariane space shuttle is launched. It is also a former prison colony, and mainland town located closest to the Devil's Island, the famous prison island of the Dreyfus affair and Henri Charriere's Papillon. The French Foreign Legion also has a base in Kourou.
The trip was planned totally in secret and when we burst into the room on Monday morning at 6:00, Dulcie's first words were "huh...what day is it?". By 7:00 (we were hoping to get going earlier but I forgot to check the oil and had to do so at the last minute) we were in the car, Dulcie blindfolded, driving through the South American rain forest with the barely-risen sun shining through the trees.

(Above: Vic and Dulcie; Below: our pathetic replacement for a car stereo and the beautiful rising sun)

When we finally arrived, we were dissapointed to find that the street signs were absolutely miniscule and only on one side of the street so that you only realize what street you're supposed to be on after you've passed it. This led to us being very lost, and when I finally stopped being the man and agreed to stop and ask for directions, we found a fantastic pastry shop. We then found a lovely cafe and had our breakfast, giggling over the fact that nothing in town seemed to be open.
Although it has been raining every single day for the past month, incredibly enough, it was sunny and not a cloud in the sky, but we didn't know if it would last, so we decided to make our first stop the beach.

We spent a couple of hours enjoying the sun, looking for shells, and catching up on our reading. (Left: Vic is pointing at the Iles du Salut, including Devil's Island, off in the distance)

Our luck with weather then ended and as rain clouds began creeping over us, we headed off to find a place for lunch. We wound up back in the same square as we had been in the morning and had pizza and fries (we're all into health food!) as rain poured down.
And now for the guilty admission....there is a McDonald's in Kourou...and there was no way we had driven for almost three hours and were not going to go to it...

Dee and I got McFlurry's (more like vanilla ice cream with sprinkles because the McFlurry machine was broken)

and since the restaurant was empty, we snuck into the play place and completly reverted back to childhood for half an hour.

Upon exiting, one of the customers looked at us with a raised eyebrow and asked "How old are you guys?" We all giggled and replied "Twelve" and then ran off.

We headed out of town and towards the Space Center. I wish I could say we actually went into the museum, but we were running low on cash so we had to be content with pictures of it and a replica of the space shuttle.

It was starting to rain again and since we had very little idea what else could be done in Kourou, we were very sunburned, and running low on money and gas, we decided to head home.
It was a painful drive (my back was very burned), slowed down by a heavy rainfall and nightfall, but we got back to St.Laurent in one piece and early enough to get some prep work done for the week. My account of the day had to wait until tonight though since all phone lines have been dead for the past two days. It's crazy how much we rely on internet and phones and how cut off you can feel when you don't have them!
In the end, we took back three things from our day in Kourou...
1) crazy sunburns

2) we each got a "transformer" action figure key ring (symbolic of our transformative year of service)

3) great memories

For a different perspective on the day and some more pics, you can visit Dulcie's blog at www.deejustine.blogspot.com

Back on the Maroni

2006-01-22T22:57:00.000-03:00

This post is way overdue! A slight schedule change upon my return to St.Laurent has left me with even less free time and therefore less time to be spent in front of a computer screen. However...I am back in St.Laurent and all is good! It is remarkable how fast time passes here. The girls and I have started feeling the pressure of the little time that is left here and the need to get the most out of every minute and give as much as we can (hence the schedule change). One thing we have added to our schedule is a two hour workshop on Wednesday afternoons that we like to call "Girl Power"...yes, it is for girls! It is an empowerment workshop for the young girls in one of the more troubled neighborhoods of St.Laurent...it will cover everything from confidence-building to equality to just doing fun stuff "entre filles" as we say here. I am lucky to have a great addition to my schedule which is spending another night in a hammock! Not that I don't absolutely love where I am living but I will be spending my Thursday nights in a really wonderful village where I already teach a French class in order to have more time with the youth there. Because of how late they get back from school, it is the only way to get more time to interact with them, and I'm hoping it will give me a chance to improve on my Saramaka!
I don't really feel like I can recap on the past two weeks of being back in St.Laurent so instead I will simply recap on the weekend and attempt to write more frequent updates from now on!
The highlight of my Saturday was in one of my favorite children's class. Just as we were about to begin prayers, one of the boys, Philippe, shot his hand up into the air to proudly tell me he had said his prayers last night. He was absolutely beaming, not in an "I'm so proud of myself" or "I made the teacher happy" way, but out of knowledge that he had done the right thing. All the other children were silent, as if waiting for me to ask them if they had too, which I didn't, but when we finally started prayers, they were the stillest and most quiet they've ever been. We spent the entire class simply singing songs! They didn't even want to play, but preferred to learn another song. They did not however, pass up on coloring time.

This weekend was the weekend of the spiders! (I have no idea how to spell the sound of revulsion that comes to mind at the thought of what I have to recount)
When we got to Wagi Pasi to set up for the night, the carbet was absolutely crawling with spiders, way more than usual. This led to a very quiet and cautious set up of the hammocks, but when a cockroach mysteriously made it up onto poor Dulcie's back, the quiet was gone...I don't think I've ever seen someone jiggle as frantically...and of course the rest of us were all sent into shivers and ticks at the thought of waking up with a spider on top of our hammock nets (and these are not small spiders). We did make it through the night, but little did I know, that was not all I would have to deal with. During my morning French class, as I was explaining some illogical aspect of counting in French, the entire class started pointing behind me frantically, and when I spun around, I was a few inches from a tarantula the size of my head! One of the men in the class gallantly raced up, whacked the spider and killed it with a carving knife. It was very courageous and dramatic.
When I got home and told the story to Bob, he laughed at how scared I was, until I identified the spider as being a reddish brown color, at which point he said "oh, yes, well those ones do have a tendency to give a nasty bite."...Hurray!

This has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the blog but I don't think I have posted a picture of THE TEAM yet so...here are the ladies of St.Laurent du Maroni.
Victoria (from Paraguay) is on the left, Dulcie is the redhead in middle (from Ottawa), and Denissa (from Quebec) is the beauty with the knife (it was her birthday). [please ignore the cigarette of the stranger walking by]

They are absolutely fantastic, funny, and patient, and we are all so different, it is a true sign of the unifying power of the Baha'i Faith that we all get along so well! I'm am truly blessed to be serving with them.

Yet another week full of adventures and lessons learned has gone by and tomorrow another one begins. Hopefully I will update a little more on them from now on. For now, here is a Baha'i writing that has guided us girls in our consultations here and will continue to throughout our lives:
"If they agree upon a subject, even though it be wrong, it is better that to disagree and be in the right, for this difference will produce the demolition of the divine foundation. Though one of the parties may be in the right and they disagree that will be the cause of a thousand wrongs, but if they agree and both parties are in the wrong, as it is in unity the truth will be revealed and the wrong made right." - Abdu'l-Baha

Home for the Holidays

2005-12-28T18:36:00.000-03:00

On the morning of December 20th I left St.Laurent for Congo. The trip began with a boat ride across the Maroni to Suriname in pouring rain, followed by a two hour taxi ride to Paramaribo (the capital) in an overly air-conditioned car. Needless to say I was very wet and cold by the time I got to the airport. Having packed at about 4 o'clock in the morning in a state of semi-consciousness, security had a field day with me when they discovered scissors and a sharp nail file in my toiletries bag. Luckily I don't look like a terrorist so I was allowed to go with only a pat down.
From Paramaribo I flew overnight to Amsterdam then to Paris where I met my brother and my soulmate, Jenna, who had flown in from England to meet us. We checked into a hotel, I changed into warm clothes, and we headed out to explore Paris! First stop was the confusing metro...we made it through alive and reappeared on the busy and beautifully decorated streets of Paris. It was absolutely freezing (or at least it was for me, coming from tropical weather) so we quickly found a lovely Lebanese restaurant, and washed down shawarmas with street-side prepared French crepes, drenched in butter, sugar, and lemon juice...what a marvellous place! We once again navigated our way through the subways and got to the Louvre...it was already quite late so all we could do was admire the architecture and the glass pyramids from the outside, which are in themselves astounding!

We saw the Eiffel Tower light up in the distance but it was just too cold so we looked, took some pictures, and chose instead to navigate our way back to the hotel, where we spent most of the night looking at pictures, eating baklava, inventing card games, and giggling.
The next morning, we woke up early to get back to the airport. After a painfully long check-in process with a trainee, we had our last meal together, after which we said our goodbyes and Dylan and I headed for the gate. Going through security, one of us remarked how weird it was that we had become the kind of family where the kids come home for the holidays....we're kinda grown-up! It's a little weird...
After 8 hours, three movies, 15 cups of orange juice, and one great meal of salmon, we landed in Kinshasa on the night of December 22nd, and were welcomed by the usual chaos at the airport and two beaming parents. Luckily, our bags arrived too, and we arrived home, exhausted but joyful. There was a delicious meal of potatoes and steak waiting for us, followed by one of mom's special chocolate cakes.
The past few days have been a lovely mash of being with family again...

seeing old friends...

and chilling with our new cat....

It sure is good to be home! It's back to St.Laurent on January 6th!

Changes and breakthroughs

2005-12-06T23:09:00.000-03:00

This morning's French class was one of the most moving I have had since I got here. We spent a frustrating first hour dealing with possessive adverbs (or something rather) and I decided it was time to move on to something else. So we once again pulled out our alphabet sheets. It had been a while since we had worked on reading and I was worried that we would have to go back over the alphabet. We didn't, and in addition to that, when I began putting together consonant-vowel combinations, most of the women could read them! It was amazing! It wasn't easy....they would first state very harshly that they didn't know, that they couldn't do it, and I would ask them over and over to just try...and then they would get it...and they had this look of incredulity on their faces when they realized they had done it. They didn't want to stop, they just wanted to keep reading word after word. It was a really uplifting atmosphere. I could almost feel them walking taller as they left class. Literacy truly is an powerful tool! The following is a quotation regarding education from a statement by the Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace,from which I have drawn a lot of motivation and strength since arriving here:
"For ignorance is indisputably the principal reason for the decline and fall of peoples and the perpetuation of prejudice. No nation can achieve success unless education is accorded to all its citizens."
It might seem like an obvious statement but to actually carry it out definitely is not, considering UNESCO currently estimates that over 771 million adults in the world are illiterate.
Later on the in the afternoon I had two children's classes. The first one is in a house where the children are repeatedly beaten, but I am beginning to see a change...instead of the mothers coming over to hit one of the children today, they simply came over to "show" their children how to color. It really was beautiful to see the mothers standing by the kids coloring their sheets, the children looking very impatient to get their sheets back but I think thankful that they weren't being hit.
Thanks to the arrival of Dulcie, I was able to split my second children's class into two age groups, making things much more manageable. She took the younger kids and did an absolutely amazing job with them considering she is still learning French, and of course the kids adored her. I took a smaller group of older kids aged 9 to 11 and we worked on memorizing a prayer with a lot of imagery by making a picture book. It was interesting to see how different children interpreted different words and what pictures they used to portray them.
I finished off the day with a junior youth class, in which I got deeply criticized for having not yet tried "awasai", a Ndjuka specialty, and left with promises that I would get to taste it next time. I did not understand much of the explanation of what it actually is, which frightens me a little, but hey...what is a year of service without some disturbing food experience?

Lesson Learned: One of the greatest gifts we have been given is our free will and our ability to choose. We choose what to believe, how to act, and how to treat others. We must never for a moment think that these things are beyond our control. We have a choice in whether or not to believe in God, whether or not to steal, and whether or not to gossip. It is first consciousness of this that enables us take control and begin living life in accordance with Divine Teachings. (hmmm...that may have been a little obscure...once again, open to individual interpretation)

3 months

2005-12-03T22:01:00.000-03:00

I definitely do not get the prize for most oftenly updated blog! Possibly if I chose to write something every night I would come up with more than trying to look back on the month in which I wrote nothing, however, that has not been the case and I am now forced to sit down and figure out something exciting/inspiring to write for all the people who I know avidly read this blog!
As the title of this blog shows, today marks the three month anniversary of our arrival in St. Laurent. It definitely does not feel like it has been that long. I guess time flies when you keep busy.
Our classes have been going long enough that we have established strong friendships with the youth, are feeling comfortable with the adults in our French classes, and are beginning to see changes in the children. There are still times when I feel like our work here is for nothing, days when it feels like chaos is reigning in all classes and the women have placed a special mental block to prevent them from remembering any French, but it is in those times that saying a little prayer goes a long way. It inevitably leads to a little moment in which I realize why I am here: a woman spills out an entire well-constructed sentence in French, a child recognizes a moment of service or willingly shares a marker...these are the moments I live for. That is not to say that the rest of the time I'm depressed, but those special moments are the ones I will keep in my heart forever.
The most comforting thought that has kept me company over the past three months is that God never tests us beyond our capacities. There are certainly moments when I feel like I will never make it through the year, but to close my eyes and realize that God is testing me and He knows I can get through it gives the strength needed to do just that...get through it. And it is by overcoming tests that we grow spiritually, and grow closer to God.
An event that needs mentioning in this update is the arrival of a fourth youth, a young lady named Dulcie Cardinal from BC, who will be joining the "St.Laurent team" until June. It was quite complicated to actually get her here: Jackie went to Suriname (it's just across the river) to pick her up but called saying Dulcie was nowhere to be found. A few minutes later the phone rang again and it was Dulcie saying she was in St.Laurent. Unfortunately we didn't have Jackie's cell number to be able to inform her that she was in the wrong country. After phoning every person in our address book we finally found the number, by which time I had already returned with Dulcie. We called Jackie and she made it back to St.Laurent, only to be stranded at the port because a young lady (yours truly) went to the wrong port to pick her up. A very long and complicated afternoon, but totally worth it since Dulcie is an absolute gem and we are all getting along marvelously!

(Dulcie, Anthony, and me)

Another event worth mentioning is last night's fireside. We had 19 youth crammed into the living room, and after a very rowdy name game, we had a very enlightening discussion about heroes. We talked about the different types of heroes, why people are admired, and everyone got a chance to share who their hero was. I gave a brief presentation on Wangari Maathai, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. I admire her incredibly for being the first woman in central and eastern Africa to earn a doctorate, as well as her dedication to the establishment of peace and to the empowering of women. However what I admire her most for is that despite going to the US for her Bachelors and Masters, she returned to Kenya. Unfortunately many African youth who go oversees for an education never return, and they could be contributing a tremendous amount to Africa's spiritual and material development. Although my true heroes are my parents, whom I admire for all their work, love and dedication, by presenting Prof. Maathai, I hoped to show the youth the potential for greatness that exists within them, and show the girls the possibilities that lie in front of them.

Lesson Learned: Prayer and song exert such a powerful influence on the soul! I recommend for anyone the best remedy in moments of sadness or hopelessness, sit down and say a little prayer or sing a song. It really helps.

Our deepest fear

2005-11-21T10:42:00.000-03:00

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth...It has been a week since my last post and I guess the lack of motivation to update comes from the fact that we are in a bit of a routine now and the excitement for my activities and work has died down. However there are little things that happen throughout the week that are worth mentioning:
Tuesday:
For some reason, it was a particularly violent day and the kids would not stop hitting each other, for the smallest things! I was beginning to lose patience since it seemed that very little I said or did could stop them for hitting, so I brought out my biggest weapon: I said very seriously that if the hitting did not stop and if I did not see our stopping strategy (if you want to hit someone, give yourself a high five instead), there would be no coloring. Since this weapon is not used too often it is very effective and things calmed down a little. A few minutes later though, one of the girls, Diane, was pushed by a boy, Eddie, next to her and she gave him a good whack....but IMMEDIATELY afterwards she gasped and apologized to the Eddie and then looked at me and apologized. This was a truly golden moment! Not only did Eddie not hit back, for which he was dully praised, but Diane had recognized what she had done and had apologized! This has never happened before and I don't know if it will happen very often but it is a moment I will remember forever. Who knows, maybe we are making progress?
Wednesday:
I awoke in the usual morning daze and headed for the bathroom, only to step into an inch of water: the evacuation pipe for the washing machine had come out and had flooded the bathroom and the water was quickly headed for the computer. It is remarkable how fast the human body can wake up...I slid along the floor, grabbed a towel, and slid back just in time to create a barrier for the computer. It was pretty smooth! So Denissa and I spend an hour mopping and gliding around.

Thursday:
Bob made fudge and toffee!!!! The power of sugar in those moments of sadness or homesickness is remarkable and I think Bob recognizes it and would rather have three hyper girls in the house than three depressed moping girls. Bless his heart!

I want to share a quotation that a friend of mine shared with me when I was feeling down one day. It is one that I find particularly applicable to youth today, all around the world. I have always wondered: why is it uncool to get good grades at school? Why are youth so scared to show their talents? Why is it so bad to accept a compliment about one's good looks? Why must teenagers deprecate themselves? Why are we afraid of success? Why don't we give something our all and if we don't succeed accept it and recognize the value of our efforts? Anyway, this quotation gives great inspiration and might help resolve some of the questions above.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God - your playing small doesn't serve the world. There si nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Nelson Mandela
Think about it!

A Special Saturday

2005-11-14T23:18:00.000-03:00

Saturday November 12th is the anniversary of the birth of Baha'u'llah, the prophet founder of the Baha'i Faith. It is a day of great joy for Baha'is, and it was our opportunity to hold a big event to which we could invite all the people from our various classes. It was organized a bit last minute since it kinda sprang up on us, but as usual, everything came together in the end. While I went around picking people up, Denissa and Victoria decorated the "carbet" where we were going to have the celebration with beautiful streamers. There was lots of singing followed by some prayers, and then one of the youth told the story of the life of Baha'u'llah.

Despite having heard the story many times since childhood, throughout children's classes and holy days, I never tire of hearing it. It is a very moving and inspiring story and one can never hear enough of Baha'u'llah's kindness towards all who crossed His path; even those who wished to do Him harm. To hear of the extreme suffering He underwent makes ones own problems and difficulties seem insignificant.
Following this story, we sang some more songs and then moved to a different area to watch the documentary "The Journey Home" made by incredibly talented mother (a totally unbiased evaluation of her writing,filmaking, and editing skills). It tells the story of the choir from Congo that traveled to Haifa, Israel for the opening of the terraces in May 2001. We felt it would be appropriate because of the joy in communicates and the unity in diversity it shows. Also, the people here feel a very strong connection to Africa, since they are direct descendants of Africans brought over here as slaves (although the history goes that as soon as the slaves arrived they escaped into the jungle and the people here are very proud of the fact that they were never slaves). However the connection is very much a spiritual one and they have a great thirst for images and anything concrete from Africa.

They watched with great attention, pointed at this and that, clapped along with the singing. It brought tears to my eyes; I thought I was back home.
The evening ended with prayers, and I drove a car full of 8 children back to their camp, who, despite yawning every two minutes, interrogated me about what animals I lived in Congo and what food I ate and what color my mother was (they had seen my white father in the movie).
It is a slow process to "re-invigorate" the community here but I think we have made a good start. Now we have seen a bit of what works here for celebrations and we will hopefully be able to plan something nice and big for the next one!

Tattoos

2005-11-10T21:17:00.000-03:00

There are some days when you just have to make due! Our dear friend Mr.Printer decided to have a fit and become dysfunctional making it impossible to print coloring sheets! The thought of the children not having coloring time is a fate worse than death...so I became the human coloring sheet. Check out my new body art:

Apology

2005-11-09T20:49:00.000-03:00

I would like to take this blog to apologize to all parents around the world on behalf of teenagers around the world. There are many things I can apologize for (i.e: lack of sleep, driving you insane, phone bills...) but this blog is dedicated to two specific apologies, and here is why:
There is a boy in one of my children's classes whom I have grown very fond of. His name is Jean-Luc, he is four, and is extremely adorable (see picture below). His home situation is very difficult, like most of the children here, but it was simply his joyful energy that attached me to him. I quickly realized this though, and recognized the importance of not playing favorites in my classes, however, this took on a whole new meaning yesterday. He had been sitting in on another one of my classes, which he knew he wasn't supposed to be at but nobody could get him to leave (our classes are done outside and kids from the neighborhood often drop in).When it came time to color, I didn't give him a coloring sheet since his class was the next day. He continued to ask me for one and I explained over and over that he couldn't have one because it wasn't his class, until finally he went off to pout in a corner. I wanted so badly to give him a sheet but I knew he had to understand this lesson. (This is apology number 1 to parents: Sorry that we pout, yell, shout, and cry when we don't get what we want and all you're trying to do is teach us detachment and patience).
Later on, he came back to the class and was watching the others color (with the most tear-jerking puppy eyes I have ever seen). He accidentally bumped someone, who inevitably whacked Jean-Luc across the face (a very common response to any kind of annoyance here). Exasperated, I reminded everyone for the millionth time that hitting is not good, asked for apologies, and then went to comfort Jean-Luc who was crying. When I reached out my hands to hold him, he jerked away and wouldn't let me touch him. It was one of the most horrible feelings I have ever had! Here is this child that I love as if he were my own and he won't let me hold him to comfort him. So I just sat there next to him until the crying quieted to a whimper. I ended my class and walked Jean-Luc home. I stood at the gate until he got to the door at which point he turned around, and I gave the warmest smile I could come up with. He gave a little wave and disappeared.
Dear parents (mine especially): For all the times we jerk away from hugs and cuddles, brush your hand off our shoulder, or pull our hand away when we see friends....I'm sorry! I can't even imagine how it must feel to have it happen several times, sometimes for years on end.

Lesson Learned: True proof of love is not always giving the person what they want, but rather what is best for them. Although we are not always in the position to judge what that is, parents most often are. My deepest respect goes to parents and teachers everywhere who deal with this every day, and persist through the temper tantrums and "I hate you"s out of true love for children, and a desire to see them manifest the treasures that they inherently possess.
"Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can alone cause it to manifest its treasures and enable mankind to benefit there from." (The Baha'i Faith)

The Golden Rule

2005-11-03T00:07:00.000-03:00

Hindu Faith: "This is the sum of duty: do naught to others that which if done to thee would cause pain."
Jewish Faith: " What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men. That is the entire Law; all rest is commentary."
Zoroastrian Faith: "That nature is only good when it shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self."
Buddhist Faith: "Hurt not others with that which pains yourself."
Christianity: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Islam: "No one is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself."
Baha'i Faith: "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself."

I have heard people say that the religions of the world will never agree because they are so different. The Golden Rule is present in all religions. It is the basis of faith and the basis to creating a united world. If all believers of the world adhered to this law we would not have the religious prejudice that is so prevalent in our society, nor would we see religious wars. This thought leads to a deeper one of not judging a religion based on the actions and behavior of its followers. We must be just in our evaluation and search independently for the truth.
Our Friday night deepening was on this subject. It was a very interesting evening, during which we decided that each one of us played a part in creating a world in which everyone abided by the Golden Rule. We discussed the challenges that we would face, particularly facing those who do not return our kindness, and then to put some of this into practice, we split into groups to create skits.
What would you do if a new kid came to school with a bit of a "strange style"?

Help her out of course!

What would you do if someone came up to you with the latest, juiciest gossip?

What would you do if someone bumped into you in the street and started looking for a fight?

What would you do if someone you tried to be nice to ignored you? Just keep being nice...they'll give in eventually.

Lesson Learned: the creation of a peaceful and united society will not be easy, but it is a process that we all play a part in. We must become cognizant of this in order to begin the process. World peace (as corny as those two words now sound thanks to "Miss Congeniality") is inevitable, but the amount of time it will take to achieve it and the amount of suffering we will undergo before we attain it depends entirely on us and the amount of effort we put into it.

It hurts

2005-10-31T22:50:00.000-03:00

You can read as many books as you want but until you have a chance to put things into practice, the skills aren't there. One of the fundamental principles or should I say "rules" of parenting, and therefore of teaching, is to not react impulsively. I had read it a million times; I have had it said to me a million times; but today I reacted impulsively. In today's children's class, two of the girls had been play hitting for most of the class. I told them a few times that I did not like it, even though it was just for fun, and asked if they could stop, but it continued. Halfway through the story I looked up just in time to see one girl hit the other quite hard, and the second girl then return the hit even harder. Having lost patience, I brought out the only punishment I give and said to both of them "That's it, neither of you will color today" and continued telling the story.
As expected they both began to cry quietly into their arms. It is the greatest challenge we face here in our classes...hitting and fighting...it is CONSTANT! And it is so hard to change because their parents do it, so we try to be quite strict in class about not hitting. While I was getting out the coloring sheets I overheard the girl who had returned the hit sobbing to the boy sitting next to her that he had ruined everything and ask him why he was so mean. I turned around and asked what was going on. After much persuasion and several versions of the story I discovered that the boy who the girl was talking to had a stick behind his chair and had been hitting the girl a couple of chairs over with it during the entire class; she has thought it was the girl sitting next to her and had asked her to stop several times until finally she lost her patience and hit her neighbor, who, because of how she was brought up, instinctively hit her back.
It hit me so hard when I heard all the facts...I realized exactly what I had done and how it easy it was to do it. I apologized for reacting so quickly and gave out a few warnings and yet another reminder of how much God hates to see us hit others. Unfortunately at that very moment one of the mothers came charging over and dragged her child off to be hit for some undoubtedly small offence. When I tried to stop her she just looked at me as if I was crazy. We can't understand how unusual they think we are. They don't understand why we don't hit their children and they possibly never will. The least we can do is continue to intervene when we can, and set an example of love and tenderness.
It really puts the work we are doing into perspective. It's funny how something can act as motivation and at the same time be so emotionally painful.

Lesson Learned: In order to acquire skill, you need practice. In order to create change, we must take action. Reading manuals and theorizing only goes so far. Everything we say and do must contribute something to advancing our civilization, morally, materially, and spiritually.

Our best friend

2005-10-22T10:10:00.000-03:00

I would like to introduce you to our best friend on our year of service: our car!

Some may say we are spoiled to have a car, but the truth is it allows us to do much more work than we would be able to do if we were on foot or using buses. In addition, we are able to transport people and bring them to events.
Our car is a tiny Renault Twingo we have affectionately named Foxy. (The "A" means the driver has had their license for less than two years)

As wonderful as Foxy is, and as much as we love her, she has a few problems, the most annoying one being that there is no handle on the driver's door, meaning that the window must be opened all the way in order to open the door from the outside.

The most worrisome problem is that the display you see on the speedometer while it is parked, is what the car always displays...i.e. the speedometer doesn't work. The gas gage doesn't really work either.

By now you have certainly figured out that the air-conditioning in this car doesn't work...but just in case we ever wanted to try, we wouldn't be able to...the dial is gone. And we still don't know what used to be in that big hole.

If we ever did get the urge to fix something in the car, we can find all the spare parts we need right there! There are even spare parts from other cars!

Some would say that our roof needs a paint job...we like to think that our car is very fashionable...I mean, all the jeans nowadays are faded right? (please notice the peach air freshener!)

Hubcaps? Who needs 'em?

Despite all these little problems (oh yes, have I mentioned that the alternator broke today?) Foxy is a great car and a great friend and hey, at least we can feel cool inside...check out the seat covers!!!!! ;-)

Brilliant stars

2005-10-19T20:57:00.000-03:00

My adopted son for my time here, Jean-Luc. He is 4 years old and a fireball of energy but at every children's class he sits quietly next to my chair and listens very carefully. At the end of the class, he waits patiently until all the other children have left and then bounds into my lap.

Jean-Luc and Nanika

The boys from the hood

Making posters for the new youth arts workshop - Les Jeunes d'Art

Education

2005-10-19T20:09:00.000-03:00

This year is a year of service for me: service through education. Not only is every day a learning experience in itself, but also every time I step into a class I am both teaching and learning from my students. There was a great compilation made a while ago of speeches given at a symposium on education and I would like to share some interesting points I have found in this book.

There are three kinds of education: material, human, and divine. Material education is concerned with the progress of the body; human education is concerned with the progress of civilization; and spiritual education is concerned with the acquisition of divine perfections. Unfortunately, as our society advances materially, it ignores the importance of spiritual education. People see the three types as being unrelated and spiritual education as being a question of choice. I wonder if the same people who have forbid the saying of prayers in school assemblies or the teaching of moral values in classes see a correlation between their decisions and the increase in teen drinking, STDs, and drug overdoses. Probably not.
How can educators deny the importance of spiritual education when the concept of "education for all" is based on the "spiritual" premise that we are all equal and therefore have an equal right to education?

One of the speeches in the book focused on some major themes in the Baha'i Faith and how these related to objectives of education.
-Intrinsic nobility of man: Education should have the purpose of elevating man. Teachers should work to elevate students' sense of intrinsic nobility... particularly in a culture that is constantly degrading man.
-Unity in diversity: Education must exploit the diversity of talents and knowledge that students have, not stifle it.
-Oneness of mankind: this should be the thread linking all learning and action. Education should focus strongly on eliminating prejudices and of course, never create them!
-Words and deeds: Hypocrisy is becoming dangerously prevalent in our society. Teachers who scold students for smoking but light up as soon as school is done; actors and ministers heading anti-drug and anti-AIDS campaigns but who get busted for illegal possession or indulge in unprotected promiscuous behavior. Education must be carried out through example and teachers must realize the impact their behavior has on students. I have often heard stories from people who barely remember what they learned in high school, but remember the teacher who yelled, who lied, or who was extremely kind and patient.

The point which interested me the most was the basic building block of education: knowing-loving-creating. True creativity can only come from knowledge and LOVE. So much emphasis is placed on the acquisition of knowledge in schools, but unless students really develop a love for what they are studying, there will be little motivation and little creativity. The difficulty lies in creating this love and encouraging the creativity.

These are all principles that I will work very hard to apply to my work here, but the reason I wanted to put them in this blog is because I think they are applicable to everyone! As a teacher, as a student, as a parent, and as a human being, education is a constant, never-ending process.

French Fries on the Maroni

2005-10-19T01:08:00.000-03:00

Well, it finally happened...I lost my voice. We all wondered who would be first to be afflicted with this extreme handicap and I won the prize! The reason this is such a handicap is because it is very difficult to teach (especially children) when you have no voice, but also there is not enough time to regain the voice before going out to teach some more, meaning that it just progressively gets worse until you are forced to stop teaching because you really have no voice!
In any case, it sort of worked to my advantage today. The children in today's class found it very amusing and I tried to make it into "whispering day". It turned out to be a "whispering 5 minutes" before chaos set in again. So after a short discussion, the coloring sheets came out and I enjoyed the rest of the class smiling and handing out markers. It's interesting how when you can't talk, you watch a lot more. I learned a lot about the children today.
After the class, the three of us had an hour and a half to kill before our junior youth groups, so we bought some lovely French pastries and sat down by the river as the sun was setting. It was perfect!
When I got to the junior youth group, there were only 4 youth there. We spent a few minutes debating whether or not we should do another lesson and finally decided it would be best to just leave it, for the sake of the others and my throat. So I piled four 13 year olds (who were in their pajamas) into the car and we drove into town to buy French fries. There is a little stand in the middle of the town that makes them...it is also unfortunately the spot where all the scooter gangs hang out. When I stopped the car, the kids bounded out of the car like wild animals let out of the cages it. Luckily they are very smart and didn't endanger themselves...however, they made their presence known.
Once we had our fries, we drove down to the river and sat on the rocks eating and talking about school. One of the boys, Enrico, who has a lot of difficulties reading and is very reserved, burst out "Miss, you're actually nice!"...It struck me that the only side of me he had even seen was the one that pushed him to read and participate in the activities. I laughed and said "Well, sometimes."
We spent a few minutes identifying what each one of us had difficulties with and threw a rock into the river as a symbol of throwing away the difficulty and we then picked up a stone to symbolize what we were going to do to help with this difficulty.
This was followed by some races and cartwheels in the park before heading back to Vampires.
My only regret of the evening is that I DIDN'T HAVE MY CAMERA!!!! Sigh...But it was a wonderful opportunity to bond with the youth and a lovely end to the night.

Lesson Learned:
We must think before we act but don't forget the value of spontaneity. Sometimes following through on a spontaneous urge to do something can result in extreme fun (as long as it's within reason)

Pictures

2005-10-18T15:17:00.001-03:00

I have realized that there may be a bit too much writing in these blogs and some people might be interested in more pictures. Soooooooooo...here are some beautiful faces of French Guiana:

Little Jackie (do not mess with this child, she is one tough cookie!

Eginio, one of the brightest boys I have ever met.

Victoria, third member of the year of service team (from Paraguay)

Yasmina, one of the sweetest girls alive! She unfortunately left to go back to Suriname for school.

Braided hair

2005-10-17T18:36:00.000-03:00

Another adventurous weekend gone by. We packed up the car on Saturday afternoon and headed out of town. We each taught two classes in various locations and then settled down in Wagi Pasi for our night in hammocks. As we slowly get to know the people in the villages we feel much more welcome (duh!) and much more comfortable. We are slowly picking up our Taki-Taki and Saramaka and are able to communicate more and more. The highlight of every weekend spent in Wagi Pasi is waking up early to go to the creek to bathe. Because it is in the forest, the water is quite cold and is a very refreshing wake up! It feels "natural" to be washing in water that you find rather than the water that comes out of taps...and it is very peaceful. It's especially fun to listen to the women laugh about their husbands and the latest silly things their children have done.
This weekend we also began work in a village further up the road called Prosperity. Our "home base" there is at Hilda's house, one of the women in the Book 3 study circle I tutor. She is an extremely smart woman with a very strong character, so needless to say, we get along very well! Every Sunday we eat lunch at her house, and since we felt bad that they had to cook for us, we offered to help. I don't know if it was any help but it sure gave them some entertainment. Hilda gave us the beans to cut up and her daughters sat around and smiled as we attempted to cut them as thin as we had seen them cut the beans. We were completely unsuccessful but had fun doing it...and at least we made some contribution to our meal.
While I tutored yet another wonderful multi-lingual session of Book 3, Denissa and Victoria got their hair braided. Sunday is the big hair day here because everyone changes their hair for the new week at school...boys and girls!
We did our afternoon classes and finally drove home, with the wind blowing through the car and the sun setting, exhausted and blissful after another wonderful weekend.
It's funny how exhausting it is to sleep in Wagi Pasi. We hypothesized that it was because we couldn't sleep properly in the hammocks, but with more thought we realized that it is also emotionally tiring. It comes back to that constant debate about material comfort and possessions. Do people out in the villages really need all the material comforts some of us have grown so accustomed to? We sometimes see their life as being difficult and tiring, but if they don't know another way of life is it tiring to them? And in the end, it is their detachment from material comforts and wealth that enable them to be such spiritual and generous people. We see how little they have and how much they are willing to give and we feel ashamed at how much we have in comparison. We feel that what we are doing is not enough, but then there isn't much else us 18 year-old girls from other countries can do! Anyway, it is all these thoughts mixed together which make it a bit tiring, but the fun and cultural experiences we have make it all worth it.

Lesson Learned:
This is a bit of cliche but it sure is true - Life is wonderful, but it is short. We must live every day to the fullest and treat others as if they were brothers and sisters. If you want to accomplish something, go for it. Don't hold back and don't get distracted!

Aliyenni, our weekend hostess, with her youngest child, Claire

Braiding hair by candel light

Our contribution to Sunday's lunch

Hilda, our Sunday hostess, an absolutely marvelous woman and fantastic cook!

Ala sani boun (Everything's good)

2005-10-11T22:02:00.000-03:00

My Taki-Taki is progressing slowly and my Monday morning French class takes great pleasure in teaching me new things and laughing at my pronunciation.
Teaching a language makes you realize all the things in it that just don't make sense and in French, there are tons. I wish I could explain why the "c" in French is pronounced a certain way with certain letters but I can't! I have tell them "just because"... it's not very helpful.
My afternoon children's class went marvelously and in the evening I had my second class with a wonderful group of four girls. They all have extreme reading difficulties so we move VERY slowly but they are so dedicated and persevere with extreme courage. To see them work so hard is what gives me the patience to read one sentence in 5 minutes.

Aren't they beautiful!

Today we had our usual long morning work session over God-given French coffee. At 4 I headed off to my massive and insane Tuesday children's class. It was a little less chaotic than last week but still very difficult to manage. One of the greatest problems lies in the fact that there are so many toddlers who accompany their older siblings to the class. There is no one at home to take care of them and I don't want to penalize the older ones by telling them to leave. Once again, a dilemma!
The Tiger-Butterflies (Tuesday's junior youth group) have sorted some of their problems out but it was a strange atmosphere. I can't put my finger on it. It's such a great group of youth but society and its never-failing negative influence strikes again!

Lesson Learned:
Lying never gets you anywhere.

Ants in Hammocks

2005-10-10T07:39:00.000-03:00

Once again I must blab about how wonderful our Friday night discussion was. The subject for that night was the elimination of prejudice, a subject chosen in the hopes of discussing some of the tribal issues of the country and community. We did not succeed in doing this but we did succeed in having a very interesting discussion. Racism is not really a problem here so the discussion revolved mainly around religious prejudice. We also discussed if it was possible to completely eliminate prejudice and how important it was. Another one of our objectives for that evening was to make people conscious of certain "unconscious" prejudices they may have. Nothing was said on that topic for a while and we trudged through a slow discussion of what our role was and how we could eliminate prejudice until one of the boys there, who hadn't said anything all night said, "Well, I think I'm prejudiced against gay people". It was a very frank comment, not meant to offend or attack but simply something he had obviously been thinking about and genuinely wanted to discuss. Unfortunately, our group that evening was composed entirely of boys and the discussion turned down a road we did not want it to go down, so we ended the evening and decided to discuss more on that subject the next week when we had some Writings to guide us.
We began our weekend with a lovely French breakfast in town in the morning and in the afternoon we drove out to the villages and started work. The best part of all was a new junior youth group starting in Wagi Pasi. When I arrived, the mother of the camp came up to me and introduced herself (something not commonly done by women here), said "I went to school in Suriname, I can read in Dutch but I want to learn French. May I please be in the junior youth group?" I was surprised and explained my uncertainty about the youth's openness if their mother were to be in the group. She laughed and said "Don't worry, I will be a kid too. I want to play the games and draw! And I know your mother is far away so I will also be your mother." Sure enough, she participated in the games, read very well, and encouraged her children. A good lesson in flexibility and open-mindedness.
I then began a new children's class at a camp down the road. The children were extremely well behaved and very bright. We finished a few minutes early so I sat down with some of the older kids and talked with them. I asked who went to school and they said everyone except for one of the girls sitting next to me. She immediately got up and left and the kids laughed and explained that she had gone to school up until this year when her mom stopped taking her, then they all giggled and said in a hushed voice..."Her mom drinks too much alcohol; the other day she tried to fight with a man." I almost started crying. I explained that it was not nice to talk about other people like that and that they should help the other girl learn if she couldn't go to school. I found the girl, Lucie, crying behind a tree. She didn't say anything but I offered a hug and we just stood behind the tree for a few minutes. That is by far the most challenging part of being here... the emotional suffering that the majority of children endure, be it from physical abuse, verbal abuse, or neglect. There is so little we can do except persevere with the work we are doing in the hopes of creating a change in this generation.

We spent the night at Alieni's again. Thankfully, this time there was no partying until 3 am but I was still not granted a good rest since a pesky ant (or ants) had found its way into my hammock and bit me all night!!!!

(5 hammocks in one hut! It was a tight squeeze but lots of fun!)

(Victoria and Denissa's hammocks)

I was extremely thankful when dawn came. We set out for a different and bigger creek. Unfortunately it was farther away and by the time we had washed and made our way back we were all sweaty again. I guess we'll have to develop a system for not exerting too much energy on the walk back...or not dry off after washing.
I finished the Book 2 in the morning and had another session with the Book 3 group after lunch. When Denissa and Victoria left for their classes I sat down with our host for a lovely meal of rice and chicken and they had a good time laughing about the fact that I can't cook.
We finally got home around 7 but could not fight the desire we women sometimes get for chocolate, so we dashed to the "libre-service" (corner store) and purchased a wide variety of chocolates to hold us through the night. We then sat down to watch a movie...the first movie Den and I have watched since arriving here! It was a very strange feeling to be sitting in front of the TV so long!

Lesson Learned:
The concept of hospitality has evaporated in many parts of the world. It is part of the disease of materialism and selfishness that is engulfing the West. It never ceases to amaze me how people who have almost nothing will happily open their homes to you and with a smile offer you food and drink. People are quick to point out the parts of this culture that have to change but there are also some things we can learn from it.

Five Weeks

2005-10-05T18:31:00.000-03:00

Today is the 5 week anniversary of my departure from Canada to come to French Guiana. In some ways it feels like no time has passed since I left and I can still perfectly remember our first day here...and in other ways it feels like we've been here for months! Part of that comes from how quickly we've been welcomed into the community and into our new home. The Walkers, with whom we are living have made us feel extremely comfortable and so it feels like we've known them longer than just a month. We tease each other and Bob's strange and wonderful sense of humor often gets him little play hits from all the girls. Also, because of the good planning of the community, we were able to immediately start our activities.
We have also welcomed into the house a new girl, Victoria, from Paraguay, who will be helping to increase the number of activities in the area. Hopefully she will be able to drive better than us.
Our Saturday was spent trying to organize children's classes and youth groups in the village of Wagi Pasi, where we spend our Saturday nights. We were only supposed to have 1 of each class but when we learned that a certain group of kids didn't go to one house and the kids from that house couldn't be moved because they are handicapped, we ended off with 2 children's classes and one junior youth class. It is very difficult to work in conditions of disunity, but even harder to move forward as a group. This is true for everything, be it a student council or a multi-billion dollar corporation. True success is achieved when there is unity and consultation is used to make decisions. We do not want to indulge these little fights that go on between families by having 2 separate classes for the same village, yet at the same time we don't want to deprive children of possibly the only moral education they will ever have. It is a dilemma.
Sunday was quite tiring. I tutored a Book 2 (the second book in a sequence of books on capacity development) in the morning and then had a quick lunch and went back out to tutor a Book 3 in the afternoon. It is a bit of a strange arrangement. There are three women in the group. They all speak Dutch and Saramaka but only one speaks a decent amount of French. So the women read out loud using Dutch books, I attempt to formulate questions and lead discussion in a combination of French and Taki-Taki and the rest is just mental connection and sign language. We have a pile of dictionaries and there is lots of laughing. When we finished and I was waiting for a ride, one of the women sat down with me and helped me learn a prayer in Saramaka. She was so encouraging and made me read it over and over and over, correcting my mistakes. This same woman had been very shy during the whole two hours, but when she had a chance to show something she knew how to do, she was radiant. It made me realize how much humans must pride themselves on the knowledge they have and always strive to learn, but then share it with people. Knowledge serves no good if it is kept to oneself.
As the new week began, it felt like we were following more of a regular pattern and there was less uncertainty in the day.
Tuesday's children's class was an absolute chaotic disaster (yes, I am going to insert some of the challenges encountered here..it's not all peachy!) When I arrived I was excited to see 4 new boys who were a little older and who had already been in some children's classes. Unfortunately I got excited too soon. They are boys after all and their "enthusiasm" got the younger ones quite rowdy and about a half an hour into the class I could not be heard and about 4 children were crying. So I comforted them and then sat down and didn't say anything. After about 5 minutes the kids started realizing something was wrong and they hushed each other. I slowly explained that I was very sad that people were being so loud and hitting so much and for this reason there would be no coloring that day....open mouths and complete silence. Even though I said they were free to leave, nobody moved! They were probably all hoping I would give in. Despite the adorable faces looking at me, I didn't and they started to play again, but very quietly. I talked to the boys about the fact that they set an example, though I don't know if that did any good. It's very difficult to teach children's classes in large groups. You don't want to be a strict teacher but if you too nice there is no discipline from the beginning. The children here come of their own free will, they aren't sent, so if they don't like you, they won't come! It is a difficult balance to strike.
The junior youth group that night was almost just as problematic. Two of the girls had had a fight during the week and so of course the rest had taken sides and you could feel the disunity in the group. We said some prayers and talked about unity. Eventually one of the girls just left and we finished with a bit more of a lighter spirit, but it was difficult. It's very draining too! I just pray that during the week some things will be worked out.

Lesson Learned:
Words are very powerful and the way you say the words can change everything. Think before you speak and take into consideration peoples' feelings and the ways they might respond. Being in tune with how others are feeling is not easy, so we must make an effort to be considerate and tactful.

Two wings

2005-10-04T11:52:00.000-03:00

One of the highlights of the past few days was our second youth gathering on Friday night. We chose the topic of the Equality of women and men, and there was a group 9 people. We attempted to keep the discussion focused of Baha'i quotations on the subject but it inevitably strayed very far, though not at all in the direction we excepted. We began by explaining that our basic belief of the topic was that men and women are like the 2 wings of one bird, the bird of humanity. In order for humanity to soar, both wings must be equally developed: men and women must work together and each one's roles, though they may be different, are equally important. Sadly, our society has come to value physical strength and force, creating a mostly paternalistic society, which views gentleness and moral courage, things more characteristic of women, as weaknesses. Our society has come to undervalue the role that mothers play, the role they possess as the first educator of the child. Maternity leave is not well paid and it is extremely difficult to return to one's job if you take too long a period off...the crucial period in the early life of a child when values and basic behavior is learned. A woman who chooses to stay home for the duration of her child's life is seen as making less of a contribution to society that a person who goes to the office every day. This is extremely sad and dangerous. The mother's choice to be present in her children's lives plays a strong part in the children's' education, but it also creates stronger family bonds. And since the family is the foundation of society, strong family bonds creates a more unified society.
I want to share a story that is very close to my heart on this topic: one of my best friends' mother received her teaching degree just before she had her first child. She chose to postpone teaching until her child was 5, but two years later her second child, my friend, was born, and then came a third child. This mother stayed at home, remaining very active in educational work but without a "job", until her first child graduated. She then began searching for a "real job" but could not find one because she had no formal work experience. This woman who had raised 3 of the most wonderful boys I know had no "work experience", even though for the past 18 years she had dealt with all the ups and downs of a child and an adolescent's life 24/7; and the organization and support of a household. I believe that a change is necessary and that the day will come when motherhood will be one of the most impressive things a woman can put on a resume; the day when the world will be proud of mothers, for they are raising the next generation, and each and every one of us owes out existence to a woman.
"The world of humanity has two wings - one is women and the other men. Not until both wings are equally developed can the bird fly. Should one wing remain weak, flight is impossible. Not until the world of women becomes equal to the world of men in the acquisition of virtues and perfections, can success and prosperity be attained as they ought to be." (Abdu'l-Baha, The Baha'i Faith)
It is important that both men and women become conscious of this, since we all have a role to play in the establishment of equality, and since it is so important to the advancement of civilization.
At our gathering, the issue of women working was not really raised since it is not quite part of the culture. However, our discussion branched off onto the pratice of polygamy, something quite common here, as well as domestic abuse. No conclusions were reached on these two points but some very interesting points were raised. The majority of boys in the group thought that it was ok to have several wives if you treated them fairly but stayed quite silent when we asked if this was truly possible. They aisle seemed quite confused as to how you make your wife obey you if you don't hit her. The girls who were at the evening unfortunately did not respond, and Denissa and I had to hold each other's hands to stop ourselves from blowing our heads off. We attempted to patiently explain that hitting doesn't get you anywhere and that treating your wife equally will get you much further. The girls simply nodded at this. We did however all firmly agree on the fact that both women and men have to work at it, neither can do it all. On that note, we folded paper cranes to represent humanity, ate some cookies and chilled (as we young people do)

Lesson Learned:
Different cultures see things in different ways, and we can learn a tremendous amount from each other. We cannot impose our expectations or beliefs on others. However, culture should not, and cannot, become a barrier to progress; negative aspects must be rooted out and an ultimate standard must be followed if we are to achieve unity and peace.

Open your eyes

2005-09-27T23:08:00.000-03:00

Denissa and I spent the morning in a lovely little cafe in town, eating French croissants, sipping heavenly cafe-au-lait, and planning our lessons for the next few days (there are some good parts about being in a French dominion).
At 4:00 I went to my longest-running children's class, where the kids are starting to understand the concept of "no hitting". There were only 6 kids when I arrived there but I started anyway because I have discovered that the longer you wait for people, the longer it takes for them to come, but if you just start, they magically appear. And sure enough, the kids slowly started filtering in as the singing started. By the time I got to story time, I started to realize that there were more children than usual and the noise was steadily increasing, so when we got into a circle to play the game, I made a quick count...I was surrounded by 23 little children, not including the 5 babies who came with their older sisters. To say it was chaotic would be an understatement, and I am proud to report I am going hoarse! But there is no way to turn the children away...life here happens outside and events are for everyone...not only do we not want to turn children away, it would be impossible; they would only stand on the sidelines and sing along.
After the children's class we wait for an hour to have our junior youth class. It is never a lonely wait. One thing that holds true for children everywhere is that they all need physical affection; they all want to be held, hugged, patted, squeezed, any kind of touch. In some cultures however, like this one, it is not commonly done, and now that the children have figured out that we want to be close to them, they won't let us go. We never have a hand free, and there is usually one of two children on our backs. It never gets annoying either.
It was the first night for my first junior youth group. I was very excited and it turned out to be a wonderful evening. There are eight junior youth, all incredibly bright, fun, and enthusiastic. When we began reading from the book we'll be using, one of the boys very adamantly stated he did not want to read. I agreed but when it came time to pair up for group reading I took the boy aside and asked him to read, which he did! The only problem was that he was not confident in his reading and so it was slow and he occasionally stumbled over some words. He tried to guess the words instead of making a mistake reading the syllables. I silently cursed an outdated education system, offered him some encouragement and he continued. By the end of the class he was asking if he could be next to read.
The smile that appears on a face, be it adult, youth or child, when they realize they can do something, is a reward worth more than all the money and jewels on the planet.
At one point during the class, one of the boys sitting next to me said something funny, so I reached over to pat him on the head, and he automatically pulled away and closed his eyes. I almost died! It was at that moment I realized what all these kids go through at home. I apologized profusely, stopped the class, and re-explained that I would never hit them and why I didn't want them to hit each other. It was a real eye-opener.
At 9:00, when I got up to leave, they all started asking "Can we have this tomorrow?" "Can we keep our books?" "What's our homework?" "Why can't we go to 10 o'clock?" I am very excited to see what will come from this group.

Lesson Learned:
Sometimes people want advice, and sometimes they just want to be listened to. It's hard to know the difference. It is even harder to be a good listener. But the hardest of all is trying not to indulge pointless complaining and backbiting, since that only causes disunity and discontent.

Joy gives us wings

2005-09-26T12:43:00.000-03:00

I held my regular French class in the morning. On the lesson plan for today was to go over numbers again, something that had proven disastrous last week. However this week, I had a Taki Taki lesson under my belt and knew how to translate all the numbers. When the women heard me speak they all started giggling and the class from then on was much more fun, as well as educational.
I began another children's class in another neighborhood of Vampire. It was at the house of the Captain (a sub-chief of the Saramaka tribe), a Baha'i, who politely welcomed me and excused himself...men do not interfere in the activities of women and children.
It was a lovely group of slightly older kids, which is always nice since they understand what you're talking about! However, the best part of the class was the women who sat around and learned the quotation on unity with the children and then asked for coloring sheets.

That night we attended of second 19-day Feast in French Guiana (the Baha'i calendar contains 19 months, each with 19 days, and Baha'is gather at the beginning of each month). In attendance were 5 youth, 1 adult, and 32 children! Needless to say, the Feast consisted mainly of singing and children's presentations, which was wonderful!

Lesson Learned:
As much as negative attitudes are contagious, so are positive ones. Enthusiasm and a joyful heart renders any task more enjoyable, successful, and helps others enjoy it too.
Some things in life don't go as planned, and if we have the detachment to accept this, we can make the best of any situation.

A Weekend to Remember

2005-09-26T12:33:00.000-03:00

After having caught up a little on sleep I am able to sit down and write about our first youth gathering and our first weekend spent in the villages; a weekend of many experiences, lessons, and lots of fun.
Saturday night started a series of weekly youth gatherings combining discussion, writings from different religions, and the arts on a series of subjects related to religion and society. Our first topic was "true religion". We were a small group of two Baha'i youth, our friend Jules, and one of our neighbors. The discussion was focused on understanding what everyone thought of the term "religion", what it's true essence is, and the role it plays in society and in our individual lives. The best part of the evening was that there were so many opinions shared but there was never a slight bit of conflict that arose and in the end everyone concluded that the world's religions are not actually that different and that they should be the cause of unity. After the discussion we spent a little time trying to understand the history of the different religions and then worked together to create a collage of different religious symbols. Here were these six people, all with different opinions and definitely from different backgrouds, working together to create something beautiful that we all agreed on. Symbolic eh?

At about ten o'clock, we packed everything up, grabbed our backpacks and hammocks, and drove out to Wagi Pasi, a village about 15 minutes out of town, where we would be spending the night. We were already quite tired and were looking forward to just being able to go to sleep....no such luck! As soon as we got to Alieni's, our hostess and had put our bags down we were informed that there was a birthday party down the road and we HAD to go! So at 10:30 at night we walked down a pitch black road to another area of the village. After Denissa and I switched our rings over to the ring finger (to avoid uncomfortable situations) we found a few people we knew and danced the night away! The music went from pre-recorded to spontaneous drumming that would last for an hour. You could just lose yourself in the rhythm and the energy! The rings unfortunately didn't help much so we decided to go back at around 3:00 (we were completely exhausted too). Then came the greatest challenge...putting up hammocks for the first time ever in candlelight at 3:00 in the morning!

With quite a bit of help from Alieni's sons, Vaizal and Euginio, we finally got them tied up and collapsed into them...well, I wish it had been that simple. Sleeping in a hammock is not as easy as it sounds. For one, we were sleeping in an open hut so we had to use a mosquito net slipped around the hammock, which gives you about an inch of breathing room. But you must also find "the position" in which you can have a comfortable sleep...it involves lying at a certain angle at which point the hammock straightens out and you don't wake up feeling like a smused banana. It was challenging and I am sad to report I was quite unsuccessful, but we had fun, which is the most important! After all, we will be sleeping in Wagi Pasi every Saturday so by the end of the year we'll get it.
Thankfully, we got to sleep in but by 10:00 it was so unbearably hot we had to get up. Struggling out of our hammocks, we were greeted by Sebastienne, the 8-year old daughter of our host, who accompanied us down to the creek where we washed up. Our bottles of shampoo caused quite a commotion, as did the sight of wet bakra hair (bakra is word used for white person - i.e me). It's strange enough when it's dry but I guess it's even stranger when it's wet!
We went back to our hut (seen below)

We had a breakfast of bread and tea surrounded by about every child in the village, and then, since we were all extremely tired, we all (myself, Denissa, Sebastienne, and some of the sons of our host) crawled back into our hammocks and sang songs for about an hour. We were taught a prayer in Saramaca (one of the languages spoken here and made up funny stories. It was the perfect relaxed Sunday.

Respect calls for us to visit people in the village so we went around greeting people in our broken Sranan Tongo (another language spoken here, much easier than Saramaca, but which everyone speaks). My favorite visit that morning to the matriarch of the village, Abanti, who lives up on a hill. We had met her before and the news that I was from Congo had sent her into a fit of clapping and laughing so she was extremely welcoming when she saw us. We spent a few minutes talking about how she found the Baha'i Faith and answering questions about Canada and snow, but then she settled back into her hammock and fell asleep and we felt it would be appropriate to leave at that point. After visiting the sculptor's hut and getting a quick lesson, we ate lunch, this time surrounded by fewer children (I guess the novelty had worn off). We thanked our hostess and left to take her sons to another village quite a ways away where they teach a children's class. While we waited for them, we met with some of the villagers to have a French class at some point next week, and then sat in the sculptors' hut, where about 6 men work on wood crafts.

We had the most interesting and random conversation I have ever had in a combination of English, French, Dutch, Sranan Tongo, and an invented sign language. It was fun, but did make me think about how important it is that we develop a universal language which all people can learn in addition to their mother tongue; not as a way to eliminate diversity but rather to facilitate the sharing of cultures. It is sad to think of how much more we could have learned from these men, and Abanti, and all the other people we meet every day, if we were able to properly communicate!
When the children's class ended, a prayer meeting was held in the hut where we were, at which the children are encouraged to tell what they learned that day. We drove Vaizal and Euginio home and raced back to our 7 o'clock Sranan Tongo lesson.
Yawning and eyelids drooping, we prepared for today's lessons and collapsed into bed, grateful for the straight surface but missing the fun of our hammocks and the breeze of an open hut.

Lesson Learned:
The Western world has developed so many tools and objects to make physical life easier, but they have sped up the pace of daily life to the point where we have no time to enjoy the relative ease with which we can live it. Every time we try to slow down it only feels like things get backed up and pile up more. That society must work together to slow itself down and take time to appreciate the little things in life - taking time to just sit with friends, without having to worry about work and appointments; allowing children to just wander, without rushing them to this class and that practice; sitting and meditating about our purpose on this beautiful planet and what each of us can do to keep in beautiful for the generations to come.

Clarification

2005-09-24T14:00:00.000-03:00

I would like to post a clarification/elaborate on my last lesson learned after having received some questions about it.
"Gratitude for things and people makes detachment from them a little easier"
True, it is a bit of an obscure thought and one that is not ALWAYS true. The thought arose from a myriad of other thoughts, including missing my family, the death of a friend, and the loss of another one to marriage. I began to consider why I was having these thoughts, and a reason that they all had in common was that I didn't express my gratitude to those people enough and so it was harder to be far away from them/lose them. If I had told them more often how much I loved them, how thankful I was that they were in my life and grateful for all the things they brought to the planet, it wouldn't hurt so much to be far away. In a way the same thing goes for objects or possessions. To be grateful for the things you have or the opportunities you are given in life makes you appreciate them more and in a way prepares you for them to be taken away. If not that, then at least it isn't as much of a shock if they are lost.
I realize that this probably makes little sense but it is difficult to explain. This was my personal interpretation of the connection between gratitude and detachment and I hope that others can draw their own conclusions and interpretations from it.

Lesson Learned:
Think before you speak, write, and act.

Life goes on

2005-09-22T21:39:00.000-03:00

What a wonderful day! We have begun our activities in a new area and I am so delighted!
We had the morning off to prepare for all the activities and totalled up all the hours we will be working a week: 35; not including irregular activities, travel time, or prep. This is excellent because our goal was to be working 40 hours a week including all those things! So we reached our goal!
At 2:30 we left the house for the village of PK10. It is an entirely Baha'i village but has had some trouble in keeping up activities, but the people have a wonderful spirit and were very welcoming! We met all the adults of the village in the main hut to introduce ourselves and explain what we would be doing (all this in French with translation into Saramaka, one of the languages spoken here). Following this we held a deepening in the same hut on the subject of the Covenant. This Covenant is between God and us, His creatures. The Baha'i teachings on this subject say that God created us out of His love for us and therefore He has promised that He will never leave us alone. In order for us to understand His will, He sends us Manifestations who give us Holy Writings and teachings and allow us to know God, though we can never fully understand Him. Among these Manifestations are Jesus Christ, Mohammed, and Baha'u'llah, the Manifestation of God for the Baha'i Faith. Our side of the Covenant is that we must recognize His Manifestations and follow their teachings. It is an uplifting topic of discussion and also very comforting to think of God's love surrounding us and guiding us.
At 4:00, we broke apart. Denissa took the young children to their class and I had the privilege of teaching a French class to 7 beautiful women. In the West, we really take our education for granted, but being allowed to work with these women will make anyone appreciate their opportunity to go to school so much more. These woman are all mothers, in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and are completely illiterate, and yet they have more enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge than anyone I have ever met. These French classes are meant to be for conversation only, as they are meant to help the women obtain "Carte de Sejour" here (this is a French Dominion, and in order to obtain a 10-year legal stay card you must speak French). But these women are so enthusiastic and eager that they have learned to write their name (for some it is the only thing they can write) and we will slowly be learning how to read together. They are so cute, they could not stop giggling! It was great fun!
At 5:30, Denissa switched to a Junior Youth class (ages 11-14) and I went a little further down the road to the village of Boussiman to teach a children's class.
I truly was spoiled in this class. The children are adorable and so well-behaved! I know I sound surprised but it is extremely difficult to discuss spirituality with young children if they have not learned how to sit still, so my job is made 20 times easier when they do..hence, I was spoiled! I had 16 children ranging from age 3 to 12 and the highlight of the evening was memorizing the quotation! Every lesson has a quotation from the Baha'i writings that goes with the theme of the lesson. As this one was on unity, the quotation is:
"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illumine the whole earth".
It is a lot easier to memorize these with young ones if you add actions to each word and it works even better if they come up with the actions. So for the word "unity", they chose to all hold hands! But there wasn't enough room in the hut so we went out into the middle of the village and started yelling this quotation at the top our lungs for everyone to hear and then halfway through we all held hands...it was beautiful to see!
The greatest challenge (with all my children's classes) has been to get the children to call me by my name! It is impossible! No matter how many times I remind them, and Denissa says she has the same problem, they will always call us "teacher" or "miss"...finally I managed to get them to call me "Miss Miquela". I guess that's as good as it will get!

We said our goodbyes and I headed back to PK10 where we ended the evening with a prayer meeting in the main hut. Because most of the village is illiterate it was mostly the children who said prayers, which is really wonderful, since often children are not given enough encouragement or opportunity to participate in things, be they religious or secular. It's astonishing how near-sighted people can be and not realize that the little ones whose imaginations and joy we crush with our fatigue from work and our own lack of enthusiasm are the leaders of tomorrow! They must be nurtured!

At 8:30 the entire village broke into song and the drums came out! This kind of spirit is being lost in the city and so it was uplifting to see it still well and alive in this beautiful village. We quietly excused ourselves since we did not want the singing to end but we also did not want to be on a dark road too late at night!
As we walked out to the car, we looked up at the sky and were greeted by the most amazing night sky I have ever seen in my entire life! We were so far away from the city that we could see every star clearly and the moon shone so brightly we didn't notice it was in fact the only thing providing us with light! A beautiful end to such a beautiful day!

Lesson Learned:
Never take anything for granted, that includes people. Express gratitude as often as possible; you never know when the time will come that you will no longer have what you thought you always would. Gratitude for things and people makes detachment from them a little easier.

The Lights of the World

2005-09-21T20:04:00.000-03:00

This morning was by far my most enjoyable children's class so far. Part of possibly had to do with the size of the class: just four children with a few babies; but it was also greatly due to the fact these children were absolutely marvelous to be around. They are so bright and well behaved and as they are all brothers and sisters, they all had the same amazing smile.

The class was our first so the topic was unity. It is quite a challenge to present the subject of unity to young children, particularly at an age where they have had little exposure/ are oblivious/ don't understand disunity. But I find this extremely comforting, because these young ones are learning that unity is the norm! So when they are confronted with disunity and/or prejudice, they will hopefully immediately recognize it as being wrong. Perhaps they will actively work against it, or perhaps they will simply not get involved, but this in itself is progress, and this is the slow process of transformation that must take place in order for true unity to be established.

It was also our friend Jules' birthday today so we made a sad attempt at a cake, that ended up actually being brownies, but I guess it's the thought that counts. Jules is like a son to the Walkers, the people we live with and also practically lives here since, like many other youth, his home life is not the best.

We then made a dash out to a lovely swimming spot called Terre Rouge (red earth) as a birthday treat and raced back (yes, we do a lot of dashing and racing) to go out for some home visits. Our schedule is progressively filled up by different areas of this cluster (a designated area of Baha'is in which activities are coordinated), but before we can begin activities in different areas, we must first meet the people, and this evening's home visits were to meet the Baha'is in an area called PK10 where we will be going tomorrow. It will be a full day of activities!

Lesson Learned:
Negative attitudes are contagious and criticism gets us nowhere unless it is constructive and aimed at finding a better way to do things or behave. We sometimes think we are indispensable and must pile up everything on our own shoulders; unfortunately this can lead to a breakdown or anger at others for not doing enough, and never allows others to learn HOW to take responsibility.

Another day

2005-09-20T22:11:00.000-03:00

It truly feels like things have started rolling and we are following a real schedule. After a wonderful breakfast of fresh papaya this morning, Denissa and I headed into town to settle our driving school bill, where, after flashing our pearly whites, we got a 10 euro discount and used the money to buy ice cream. We spent the morning preparing for our classes and at 3:30 headed out to the Vampire (yes, it's an actual neighbourhood) where we each have a children's class. For some reason the children were rather rowdy today and they just kept coming! I had to raise my voice once which shocked the children but after explaining to them that I didn't like to yell, they calmed down a little. The largest problems arise from the huge age differences and the language problem. Just when it felt like these 18 children would never calm down I was sent two angels! These two older children, about 11 and 12, appeared out of nowhere and started quieting the children, handing out markers, and passing out paper. They said nothing to me until I asked them for their names, which they gave and then returned to the children. After prayers, they just left. It was so strange.
We raced home at 5:30 to eat and got back in the car an hour later for our junior youth classes. Denissa facilitates an already existing group, while I headed to a new house in the hopes of finding another group of willing youth. I unfortunately chose the exact time to walk to this new house as the entire neighbourhood soccer team decided to end practice...luckily they behaved themselves and I escaped with only a few calls of "Snow White".
To my great joy, I arrived at the pre-determined house to find four smiling and enthusiastic junior youth, soon to be joined by two more: 10-13 years old, 3 boys and 3 girls...a perfect group! We brainstormed for a name and decided on the Tigre-Butterflies to characterize the group's pursuit of beauty and grace whilst maintaining strength; we then played some games and talked about what they wanted to accomplish in our time together and we parted with big smiles and happy waves.
Lesson Learned:
In dealing with youth and children, one must be extremely cautious in how they deal out encouragement and support. One can sometimes perceive that a certain child is in need of special attention and neglect that another needs it just as much, and you can end off doing more harm than good.

Try something new...

2005-09-20T14:10:00.000-03:00

Well, this is my first blog. Whoever thought of this is a genius and hopefully it will allow me to give more frequent updates as to my adventures in sunny (and humid!) French Guiana.
Stay posted!